Food Journaling: Update on Health Habits for April 2012

I plan to eat more of this healthier foods.

I have a confession to make.

I haven't been eating right.  Are you surprised?  You shouldn't be surprised because I haven't really lost any substantial weight.  Sure, I've lost perhaps up to 5 lbs., but I haven't been serious about weight loss.  I've been more concerned with changing some of my habits, like drinking no soda and drinking more water, which I am still practicing, by the way.

I am wanting to ratchet up my eating plan.

I am serious about eliminating more foods out of my diet.  When I speak of diet, I don't mean that I am going on a special eating plan, like the South Beach Diet.  By diet, I mean what I want to put into my body, or rather, what I don't want in my body.  

It's time to jump to the next phase.

I knew that if I wanted to change my lifestyle of health, I would have to do it piecemeal.  That's how I did it to lose 30 lbs. a few years ago.  I had to go radical on what I eliminated.  Like Dr. Phil says, "How's that working for you?"  If you don't change certain behaviors in favor of others, you won't see any progress in life.

...So what exactly will I be eliminating?

I plan to exclude from my intake potato chips, cookies, cake (except on a birthday), sweets from the bakery, and candies.  I will continue to eat my meats and proteins and drink my 1% milk.  I have decided to drink 1% as whole milk does not agree with me.  Also, I will stay away from most breads, to reduce my chances of a yeast infection.  Of course, it won't be easy, but I will try my best.

I had already spoken to my husband about my plan to eliminate certain foods.  Do you think that's made a difference?  No.  He still bought candies yesterday.  That means I have to do what I can to stare down all those bad foods in the face and say NO to them.

How will I be held accountable for my actions?

Besides having the consequences of what I eat showing up on my body, I will be journaling for the next few weeks.  I will write down what I consume from today until the end of this month.  I am not planning on showing you all my food diary.  No.  I will be holding myself accountable to me.  

Food journaling will keep me honest.

It was suggested in the healthy moms group on Facebook (of which I'm a member) that it would be a wonderful idea to jot down what we eat for a few weeks.  I loved that idea.  I felt that would keep me honest about my efforts.  I readily admit that I've been floundering at my health quest.  I have an opportunity to see what foods will and/or will not help me lose weight and get healthy.

I sincerely hope that food journaling will yield good results.  I want to see if I lose more weight with the elimination of certain junk foods.  I want to see what will happen when I eat more fruits and vegetables.  I encourage you, my readers, to join me in this journey as I fill out my food diary.  You don't have to share your diary with anyone.  It would be for your benefit.

How about you, my readers?  Are you keeping up with any health goals for the month of April, related to your New Year's resolutions?  How do you plan to improve your health at this point?  Have any of you ever kept a food diary?  I encourage you all to consider it.  It's a great opportunity to have some tangible evidence of what foods can be beneficial or harmful to your health and efforts to lose weight.  

If you need to improve your health, in any form, please ask God to help you; He will, if you pray for His guidance.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.